Bloody veteran! Age 35+, they are still "shining" in the Super League

The reporter reported coldly 42-year-old Sui Weijie, the main goalkeeper of Dalian InBev, has played all 13 rounds of the Chinese Super League this season; The 38-year-old Yu Hanchao, although he has been a substitute in the Chinese Super League this season, can always score goals in a short amount of playing time, which is impressive; There is also 36-year-old Wu Xi, an outstanding representative of the "35+" players, who starts every game and has a stable performance, and is an indispensable figure in Shenhua's midfield...... Experienced veterans are helping the team move forward in their own way, while also playing a role as a passing helper.

Of course, some "35+" players have felt the strong impact of foreign players and newcomers, and their playing time is very limited, and perhaps this season will be the farewell performance of their careers.

There are 38 veterans aged 35 and above in the Chinese Super League this season, and if you count the goalkeeper Liu Dianzuo (Chengdu Rongcheng), who will turn 35 years old in the summer, and foreign aid Saric (Qingdao Manatee), there will be 40 "35+" veterans throughout the season. "35+" veterans account for 7.95% of all registered players in the Chinese Super League. Of the 16 Chinese Super League teams, only Tianjin Jinmen Tigers do not have "35+" veterans. Qingdao West Coast has the largest number of veterans (5 people), Qingdao Manatee and Dalian InBev (4 people) followed, Shanghai Port, Beijing Guoan, Yunnan Yukun, Shandong Taishan (3 people), Shanghai Shenhua, Henan team, Changchun Yatai, Wuhan Three Towns, Shenzhen Xinpeng City (2 people), Chengdu Rongcheng, Zhejiang team and Meizhou Hakka have 1 person each.

From the perspective of player position distribution, there are 9 veterans in the goalkeeper position, 12 defenders, 10 midfielders, and 7 forwards. Among the 38 "35+" veterans, 36 are domestic players (including 1 player from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) and 2 foreign aids.

Affected by the impact of foreign players and young players, as well as the degree of competition in different positions, the difference in playing time of veterans is huge.

The first 13 rounds of the Chinese Super League have been played, 17 veterans have played more than 10 times, of which 8 have played more than 1000 minutes, goalkeeper Sui Weijie (Dalian InBev), Mu Pengfei (Qingdao Manatee) are 13 games, goalkeeper Wang Guoming (Henan team) because the team has played one less game and only played 12 games, and it is also full attendance. Goalkeeper Shao Yiliang (Wuhan Three Towns) only missed one game due to injury, and the remaining 11 games were also played full. Foreign central defender Su Zu (Changchun Yatai), midfielders Li Tixiang (Zhejiang team) and Wu Xi (Shanghai Shenhua), and striker Tan Long (Changchun Yatai) all played all 13 games.

The 20 "35+" veterans played less than 500 minutes in the first 13 rounds. Lu Wenjun (Shanghai Port), Yin Hongbo (Henan team), Zheng Long (Qingdao Manatee), Yang He (Yunnan Yukun), Yan Xiangchuang (Dalian InBev) 5 players played less than 100 minutes, Feng Zhuoyi (Chengdu Rongcheng), Shi Xiaotian, Chen Boliang (Qingdao West Coast), Liu Jun (Qingdao Manatee), Geng Xiaofeng (Yunnan Yukun) 5 people did not get any playing time.

Yan Xiangchuang is the captain of Dalian InBev, he does not have many opportunities to play, and the captain's armband is worn by Lu Peng and foreign aid Ma Lailai. The captain of Wuhan Three Towns is 36-year-old defender Ren Hang, but he has only started three times, missing out on the squad for four consecutive games after facing Shanghai Shenhua on April 19, and the captain's armband is worn by the main central defender Liu Yiming and South Korean foreign player Park Zhizhu in turn.

Among the "35+" veterans of the Chinese Super League, the goalkeeper position is more stable in terms of playing time, and there are not many who can become the absolute main force in the non-goalkeeper position. Shanghai Shenhua midfielder Wu Xi, Beijing Guoan defender Wang Gang, Changchun Yatai center forward Tan Long, Dalian InBev central defender Lv Peng, and Zhejiang midfielder Li Titian are all indispensable key figures for their respective teams.

Wu Xi is undoubtedly an outstanding representative of the "35+" players, starting all 13 Super League games, of which 10 played the whole game. He is the captain of the Shenhua team and has 2 goals and 3 assists this season. The equaliser against Guoan, the goal against Henan, two of the three assists were key reversal goals, including an assist for Chen Jinyi in eight minutes of stoppage time against Zhejiang.

Wang Gang, who was originally a right-back in Beijing Guoan, has become the main right center-back in the three-back system of the new coach Setien, and has started 6 times in the last 7 Super League games. Among the teams in the first half of the region, Li Titian's role in the Zhejiang team is very obvious, he is the core of the front and back court. Promoted Ma Yunnan Yukun can be in the top half of the region, the veteran of the central defender Yi Teng is the core of the main force, he has worn the captain's armband four times, since mid-April 7 consecutive Super League full attendance, until the last round of the Super League against Meizhou Hakka.

This season, Shandong Taishan goalkeeper Wang Dalei was in poor form. In the first game, Henan was sent off with a red card only 23 minutes after kicking the opponent outside the penalty area. After returning at the end of March, the form was mediocre, and the number of goals conceded by Shandong Taishan increased significantly. He was replaced by substitute goalkeeper Jin Yong against Yunnan Yukun in early May, but then Wang Dalei returned to the starting line-up and regained the captain's armband, and his form continued to rebound, which was unanimously recognized by the team. Wang Dalei's contribution to the Taishan team is rich communication experience and the cohesion of the "big brother", for the Taishan team that urgently needs to stabilize the atmosphere in the team, Wang Dalei is the most suitable candidate for the captain at the moment.

The "35+" veterans have more players in the middle and lower teams. Shenzhen Xinpeng City's two "35+" players, Edu Garcia and Jiang Zhipeng, are the absolute main force of the team, Edu Garcia supported the attack on the left side, scored 3 goals in 9 starts, scored twice against Yunnan Yukun, and played an important role in the team's attack. Jiang Zhipeng plays as a left-back, sometimes in front of the left midfielder according to tactical requirements, and his performance at both ends of the attack and defense is quite stable.

Mu Pengfei (Qingdao Manatee), Wang Guoming (Henan team) and promoted Dalian InBev goalkeeper Sui Weijie are all "35+" players, and the 42-year-old Sui Weijie is the oldest player in the Chinese Super League this season.

Beijing Guoan goalkeeper Hou Sen played more time a bit of a surprise, because the main goalkeeper Han Jiaqi suffered a serious knee injury and was reimbursed for the season, and he was ordered to be in danger. In addition to the game against Wuhan Three Towns, Hou Sen conceded 3 goals in a row, and in the next 6 games, he only conceded 4 goals in the gate. In the first half of last year, Hou Sen, who was the main goalkeeper, was reimbursed for the ligament injury season in June, and substitute goalkeeper Han Jiaqi was reimbursed. The change of fate of the two this year is really emotional.

Changchun Yatai has Tan Long in front of him and Su Zu in the back, and the two "35+" veterans support the team, and the team's bottom is mainly due to the lack of attack. The 37-year-old captain Tan Long started all 13 games, handed over six goals and one assist, and was involved in seven of the team's 11 goals, but he was unable to do it alone, and he needed a frontcourt partner who could share the pressure. Among the two teams in Qingdao, Manatee central defender Song Long started 11 times, West Coast left-back Zhao Hongluo started 7 times, Zhang Chengdong started 5 times, and veterans helped the team in the defensive line.

Affected by age, it is indeed very difficult for "35+" players to maintain their main position in a stable state. The playing time of the first 13 games of the Chinese Super League this season also proves this, with only 10 of the 27 "35+" veterans outside the goalkeeper position playing more than 50% of the total game time, and only 12 of the main players who started more than 6 games.

The veterans Wang Shenchao, Zhang Linpeng, Lu Wenjun (Shanghai Port), Yu Hanchao (Shanghai Shenhua), Chi Zhongguo (Beijing Guoan), Zheng Zheng (Shandong Taishan), Yin Hongbo (Henan team), Chen Bailiang (Qingdao West Coast), Ren Hang (Wuhan Three Towns), Zheng Long (Qingdao Manatee), Yan Xiangchuang (Dalian InBev), can only wait for opportunities on the bench most of the time.

The 38-year-old is the oldest player outside the goalkeeper position, making two substitute appearances and playing just 13 minutes in total.

There are many veterans with memorable performances in the limited playing time, and the representative figure is Yu Hanchao. The 38-year-old is second only to Sui Weijie and Yan Xiangchuang in age, and has been a substitute in Shenhua's eight appearances this season. He came off the bench in the 81st minute of the Shanghai derby in April and equalised one minute later; then played at home against Zhejiang, and equalized two minutes after coming off the bench in the 75th minute; In May, he also scored as a substitute against Qingdao West Coast. In the FA Cup, he scored twice as the captain to help the team defeat Wuxi Wugou to advance to the round of 16.

Wang Shenchao only started three times at Shanghai Port, and as captain he performed well on the left side. In the 7th round away against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger and in the 11th round away against Wuhan Three Towns, he scored goals to lay the foundation for the team to win.

Qingdao West Coast has the most "35+" players, in addition to Zhao Hongluo and Zhang Chengdong of the defensive line, who played more time, substitute goalkeeper Shi Xiaotian sat on the bench, played 17 times in the middle of last year, and Chen Bailiang, a Chinese Taiwanese midfielder who served as the captain 4 times, has been unable to play. The striker Gaudi did not make many substitute appearances, scoring only one goal away to Henan.

Among the 38 veterans aged 35 and above, there are two foreign aids, Changchun Yatai's Zambian central defender Su Zu and Shenzhen Xinpeng City's Spanish midfielder Edu Garcia, both 35 years old. There are a total of 80 foreign aides in the 16 teams of the Chinese Super League, and as many as 44 of them are aged 30 and above, of which Changchun Yatai and Dalian InBev 5 foreign aides are all over 30 years old, but only two are 35 years old.

Su Zu is an "old acquaintance" of the Chinese Super League, who landed in the Chinese Super League 10 years ago in 2015 and joined Shanghai Shenhua from Sochaux in Ligue 2 for a transfer fee of 3 million euros. He only stayed in Shenhua for half a year and left, and it was not until 2020 that he joined the Chinese Super League again and signed a contract with Shijiazhuang Yongchang. During this period, he experienced the relocation of the team, and even went to Jinan Xingzhou in the Chinese League to play football. Last year, he returned to the Cangzhou Lions, and joined Changchun Yatai after terminating the contract with the Cangzhou Lions last summer.

Su Zu is one of the few active foreign internationals in the Chinese Super League (Zambia), and was the core of the defensive line in Changchun Yatai last year, and also has excellent ball control and passing ability, which helps the team. When Su Zu joined Yatai, the team was 13th and 9th at the end of the season. This season, Suzu has 13 rounds of Chinese Super League full attendance, and his performance is still stable, and he contributed 16 clearances in a single game against Yunnan Yukun in April, which is the most statistics in the Chinese Super League this season. Su Zu's partner in the defense line is last year's old partner Rosic, and the two still cooperate well, but Yatai's overall performance is not good, and it is currently ranked last in the Chinese Super League.

Shenzhen Xinpeng City's Spanish midfielder Edu Garcia is also an "old acquaintance" of the Chinese professional league. He joined Zhejiang Greentown in the Chinese League as early as 2018, and joined Sichuan Jiuniu, the predecessor of the Xinpeng City team, 3 years ago, but his performance was not eye-catching at that time, and he did not even enter the squad in the last 6 rounds of the season, and returned to the Indian Super League after the season. In 2022, he joined Sichuan Jiuniu, the predecessor of Shenzhen Xinpeng City, again, and in 2023, he switched between the forward and center forwards, with 10 goals and 6 assists in 25 games, and he was a super hero of Sichuan Jiuniu Chong. Last year, he moved to Shenzhen with the team and scored 9 goals in 23 games, helping Shenzhen Xinpeng City to succeed in relegation.

Edu Garcia has played in different positions this season, from winger to midfielder to centre-forward, and currently has three goals, but his form has dropped significantly from last year, and he has not been in the squad in the last two rounds. It is worth mentioning that on April 15, Shenzhen Xinpeng City defeated Changchun Yatai 3-1 at home, and the two Chinese Super League "35+" foreign aid faced off directly, and Garcia, who served as a center forward, scored a goal for Xinpeng City in the second half to help the team win and win in the old foreign aid duel.

Judging from the current situation, Suzu will still be the core of Yatai's defense in the second half of the Chinese Super League, but Garcia's position is unstable, and there is a possibility that he will be replaced by Xinpeng City in the second transfer. Qingdao Manatee's foreign aid defender Saric will become the third "35+" foreign aid in the Chinese Super League in July. Saric joined Qingdao Manatee in 2023 and has been the main midfielder of Manatee, helping the team succeed in relegation for two consecutive seasons. He played the full game in 11 of his 12 appearances this season, handing over two goals and one assist, which is the best stat of his time with Manatee.

In the second half, the three "35+" foreign aides will do their best for their respective teams to be relegated.